NYC-Toronto Live Comedy Show Looks Back at a Year of International Laughs

Our latest edition of the Comedy Records Showcase happens Monday (January 7) at New York Comedy Club’s Gramercy location. This month’s show will mark the one-year anniversary of the three-way collaboration.

The monthly endeavour has quickly become a successful international comedy alliance between New York Comedy Club, Comedy Records and The Interrobang. Each month’s line-up features top talent from both the New York and Toronto comedy scenes.

Comedy Records is run by Toronto-based comedians Tim Golden and Barry Taylor. “The whole experience has been great,” says Taylor. “We love (club owners) Emilio (Savone) and Scott (Linder). They’ve created a culture that’s very similar to what we’re building with the label. We feel the same way about Interrobang too. Everyone seems to have the same approach to comedy and it’s been a natural fit.”

Savone echoed Taylor’s thoughts, “Comedy Records and New York Comedy Club connected since day one. Even before we fully took over the club, the relationship was being developed due to a similar approach in not just comedy but overall business and creating a network. The clubhouse culture along with the effort to want to develop and curate some of the more unique styles of comedy has always been a similarity between the two of us.”

Combining Toronto and New York’s comedy communities isn’t the only unique element included in the showcase. Each month the line-up features sketch comedy from the Brooklyn-based duo, Jay & Eytan. “Jay and Eytan are as dynamic as it gets,” explains Savone. “There is so much brilliance in what they do and it’s so uninhibited that we know the audience is getting something they won’t really get at any other comedy club that night.”

Jay L’Ecuyer and Eytan Millstone started out in the Toronto comedy scene and made the move south in 2013. While relocating to a foreign county can be intimidating, New York Comedy Club has become a home away from home for the duo. “Both of their venues have such a perfectly classic comedy atmosphere,” says L’Ecuyer. “The brick wall, the crowd is so close and surrounds the stage on 3 sides, and the staff are all awesome (and genuine fans of comedy). It’s a fun place to hang out at the bar with comics and patrons, and has such an all around great “New York” vibe.”

Including a sketch duo on a stand up show could be considered a gamble but to date Savone believes the rewards have far outweighed the risk. “We like to hang our hats on being a comedy platform where the comic can take chances on stage and the showcase is a true representation of that approach. And I think that trust in the comic creates a real connection with everyone involved and gives that sense of family between everyone. The Comedy Records showcase is always a very comfortable and inviting show to be a part of, and we like to think of our club in that way too.”

Surrounding the duo with great stand-ups helps too. The likes of Nathan Macintosh, Erik Bergstrom, K Trevor Wilson, Sandra Battaglini, Alex Pavone and Andy Fiori are regularly featured on the show.

“Comedy Records’ roster of comics living in NYC have a hilarious outsider’s view of the city and America,” says L’Ecuyer. “Our host, James Mattern, is one of the best in the city! The stand ups are always so great, then we throw some high energy sketch comedy in the mix, and you get a well-rounded comedy experience.”

“It really feels like a Utopian comedy event,” adds Taylor. “Everyone is on the same page, doing what they love, respecting each other and having fun. I dunno, maybe we’ll take on world-hunger next cause it feels like we’ve got the comedy collaboration thing figured out.”

You can take in this one of a kind comedy experience the first Monday of every month at New York Comedy Club’s 24th Street venue. The show kicks off at 7PM and tickets are available for $10 at NewYorkComedyClub.com with the promo code NAFTA.

About The Interrobang

Finding comedy in everything and everything in comedy.

interrobang, in·ter·ro·bang [in-ter-uh-bang] ‽ (often represented by ?! / !?), is a nonstandard punctuation designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

Focusing on the most interesting ! and ? in life, theinterrobang.com is a place to talk about the comedy in everything, and everything in comedy. From street corners to theaters, arenas, print, television, film, or even the White House, if it's funny, or should be, we're talking about it. We also continue to bring you everything happening in the news that's worth discussing, the best recommendations on the internet, and interviews with the most creative people on the planet.

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